I used to take 50mg of zinc gulconate as well, but I had to be really careful to take it with a lot (and I mean A LOT) of food otherwise I'd upchuck the entire meal. Gross. I'll have to start back on zinc with L-OptiZinc, because I think I'm zinc deficient (probably linked with my really bad sense of smell).

Glad to know I wasn't the only one having trouble finding just plain ol' Magnesium Aspartate. I was beginning to think I was just missing some obvious procurer. I might just get the K and Mg mix ones.

As for the Chromium, I'm still looking into it. For starters, I'd like to be able to lower the insulin resistance through diet (though I keep falling off the bandwagon there) and I want to look into Chromium v. Cinnamon v. Fenugreek etc. I've heard Chromium can cause one's blood sugar to drop too much if you aren't careful, and as someone who with a very small body mass, I'm afraid Chromium might be too strong. It's probably not a big deal, but I'll still do a little more research.

I would put a regimen in here, but truth be told, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I'm looking for a new regimen.

I used to take 50mg of zinc gulconate as well, but I had to be really careful to take it with a lot (and I mean A LOT) of food otherwise I'd upchuck the entire meal. Gross. I'll have to start back on zinc with L-OptiZinc, because I think I'm zinc deficient (probably linked with my really bad sense of smell).

Glad to know I wasn't the only one having trouble finding just plain ol' Magnesium Aspartate. I was beginning to think I was just missing some obvious procurer. I might just get the K and Mg mix ones.

As for the Chromium, I'm still looking into it. For starters, I'd like to be able to lower the insulin resistance through diet (though I keep falling off the bandwagon there) and I want to look into Chromium v. Cinnamon v. Fenugreek etc. I've heard Chromium can cause one's blood sugar to drop too much if you aren't careful, and as someone who with a very small body mass, I'm afraid Chromium might be too strong. It's probably not a big deal, but I'll still do a little more research.

Chromium shouldn't drop your blood sugar too much. Chromium just makes insulin's receptors more sensitive, meaning it will take less insulin to do it's job. I'm pretty sure the only people that it affects blood sugar are people have extremely low blood sugar problems to begin with, because there body is over producing insulin for other reasons that don't deal with insulin sensitivity, in which case increased insulin sensitivity would just make the excess insulin being secreted stronger(which a severe hypoglycemic wouldn't want). Anyway, let me know if you find anything else in your research.

If acne basically starts from puberty onward, let's think about what happens from childhood to puberty.

--During puberty, insulin sensitivity is decreased, on average, 30 some percent.--Insulin levels are then increased during puberty.--After puberty, there is a recovery of insulin sensitivity. (unless diet has the system messed up)--IGFBP-1(IGF binding protein) levels decrease as insulin levels increase.--As IGFBP-1 decreases, IGF-1 increases.--This allows for more free circulating IGF-1.--SHBG(Sex hormone binding globulin) also decreases as insulin increases, and production of sex hormones is increased.--SHBG regulates the ability of sex hormones to affect tissues.--IGF-1 is controlled by your body, hence the reason your insulin sensitivity decreases during puberty to allow for extra growth, and then increases again after puberty, meaning any extra insulin above normal, or any IGF-1 raising foods will cause havoc. --Reducing insulin spikes, strengthening insulin sensitivity, and avoiding IGF-1 raising foods will help control all of this.

Im going to sart today taking 50mg of zinc,250mg of magnesium and 400 chromium of picolinate to see if i see any improvements. I read in a post u made that the chromium piolinate has side effects what are they? have you seen any major improvements so far?

"Only high transglutaminase 1 expression remains similar to that observed in cultures supplemented with epidermal growth factor alone. Our results show that the regulation of keratinocyte growth, migration and differentiation depends on the availability of these growth factors. Epidermal growth factor may play a dominant early role in wound healing by stimulating keratinocyte proliferation and migration while keratinocyte growth factor may play a role later in the repair process by stabilizing epidermal turnover and barrier function."

More has to be looked into the absorption potential of calcium with its buddy magnesium ("Magnesium: A Key to Calcium Absorption." http://www.mgwater.com/calmagab.shtml) to make a hypothesis, because I don't really know how it all shakes out in the body, what with its different forms and bioavailability. One thing is displayed through these articles though: minerals like calcium and magnesium (and probably other minerals for that matter, but focusing on these) may have a relationship with the proliferation and differentiation of healthy epidermal cells, shown by the relationship between presence of transglutaminase with epidermal growth factor, its precursor a calcium-binding protein.

My personal opinion? While understanding the underpinnings of mineral and vitamin deficiencies is good, really make sure your diet is supplying you with everything you need anyway. Of course there is no optimal diet per se, it's all n=1. Still, we've barely scratched the surface on the biochemistry of a lot of this stuff, especially as it relates to proper skin health. So just cover all your bases and, in the mean time, you can look into more specific minerals just to try it. Keep posting Jal V. Cute avatar

Sum1killme--I've read many different online complaints of multiple people complaining of hair loss after a couple months use of even smaller amounts of chromium picolinate. There are other side effects that are possible of course, but i remember being so surprised but the amount of people complaining about hair loss that i decided I'd never take it again and preach against its use. lol

And sorry guys for not bein on in a while, got in some trouble with some mary jane, and since Indiana seems to think it's identical to meth, I've paid for it. haha

If acne basically starts from puberty onward, let's think about what happens from childhood to puberty.

--During puberty, insulin sensitivity is decreased, on average, 30 some percent.--Insulin levels are then increased during puberty.--After puberty, there is a recovery of insulin sensitivity. (unless diet has the system messed up)--IGFBP-1(IGF binding protein) levels decrease as insulin levels increase.--As IGFBP-1 decreases, IGF-1 increases.--This allows for more free circulating IGF-1.--SHBG(Sex hormone binding globulin) also decreases as insulin increases, and production of sex hormones is increased.--SHBG regulates the ability of sex hormones to affect tissues.--IGF-1 is controlled by your body, hence the reason your insulin sensitivity decreases during puberty to allow for extra growth, and then increases again after puberty, meaning any extra insulin above normal, or any IGF-1 raising foods will cause havoc. --Reducing insulin spikes, strengthening insulin sensitivity, and avoiding IGF-1 raising foods will help control all of this.

Sum1killme--I've read many different online complaints of multiple people complaining of hair loss after a couple months use of even smaller amounts of chromium picolinate. There are other side effects that are possible of course, but i remember being so surprised but the amount of people complaining about hair loss that i decided I'd never take it again and preach against its use. lol

And sorry guys for not bein on in a while, got in some trouble with some mary jane, and since Indiana seems to think it's identical to meth, I've paid for it. haha

Any updates on how your skin is, has it been workin for you or did you stop takin the supplements?

I was almost 100% clear only a few pimples on one side so I decided to stop taking them for a few weeks to see if it made a difference and I broke out all over again. For some reason I didn't think about returning to this I forgot about what my routine was cause I was freaking out again. So I tried other shit that didn't work and made my face worse. But then a few days ago I remebered it was this that got me clear in the first place so I started again 3 days ago and so far this is defenantly reducing my acne. I'm just goin to stick with this for a few months and see what happens no more experimenting around with other shit.

So what are you taking? Like i'd really appreciate step by step. I can't handle my face anymore. I just want to rip it off. Especially since i went from never having acne in my life to having pimples everywhere on my face within months.

I'm having knee surgery today..so not starting supplementing until tomorrow. But would like to have an exact regimen to follow. Thank you for your help.